ST. LOUIS OUT OF THE COLD PROGRAM FIRST SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER THROUGH TO THE LAST SUNDAY IN APRIl run for 16 years and in 2016 was changed to Sunday Night Community Suppers.
St. Louis Out of the Cold program started in 1999 and runs each Sunday night for the six months during the winter season. The program is designed to provide a safe warm dry bed, with hot meals and hospitality, for the homeless and less fortunate members of our community. Kitchener-Waterloo is truly blessed to have enough care and concern for the homeless and less fortunate members of our community that this program is able to run seven nights/days a week.
Churches involved in the Out of the Cold Program are:
| Sunday | St. Louis church gym Waterloo (519-745-2061) |
| Monday | Trinity United Church, Kitchener (519-742-3578) St. Andrews church, Kitchener, (overflow site) |
| Tuesday | Ray of Hope, Kitchener (519-578-8018) |
| Wednesday | St. Matthews Lutheran church, Kitchener, (742-0462) St. Anne’s R.C. church Kitchener, (overflow site) |
| Thursday | St. John’s Lutheran church, Waterloo, (886-1880) |
| Friday | First United church, Waterloo, (745-8487) |
| Saturday | Bethany Evangelical Missionary church, Kitchener (745-0151) |
At St. Louis, we are very fortunate in having dedicated and loving volunteers who take turns once a month in spending time with the homeless and less fortunate members of the community working the following shifts:
| Set up | This crew is mainly made up with youth who require community hours in order to graduate from school. These volunteers set out and make up beds, set up tables and chairs, place condiments on the tables, and check thermostats. (This work is normally carried out during Sunday mornings after Eucharist.) |
| Kitchen – evening meals | These volunteers prepare and cook the Sunday night meal of (Shepherds pie, coleslaw, rolls/butter) clean and wash dishes etc., Following the requirements as set out by the Regional Health Department. These volunteers normally work between 3:00pm Sunday afternoon until 7:00pm/8:00pm Sunday evening) |
| Greeters/Servers/Hospitality | Greeters welcome our guests, register them with time of arrival enquiring if staying overnight, or just visiting for dinner also enquiring if the guest requires an early morning wake up call, (this due to some guests either working, or going to Labour Ready looking for work). On average we see about 15% of our overnight guests looking for an early morning wake up call. Servers and Hospitality volunteers serve our guests with dinner and desserts and clear away dirty dishes. These same volunteers also spend time in providing hospitality with the guests by talking, reading, playing cards and/or board games. These volunteers normally work two shifts 5:00pm to 8:00pm and 8:00pm to 11:00pm. |
| Overnight Security Crew | Normally there are at least two volunteers that work this shift from 11:00pm Sunday until 7:00am Monday. These volunteers provide security and supervision for our overnight guests. |
| Kitchen Staff, Breakfast | These volunteers arrive on site at 6:00am Monday mornings, prepare, cook and serve breakfast at 7:00am. Hand out bagged lunches for those guests who ordered the night before. Wash and clean dishes etc. This shift is normally 6:00am to 8:00am Monday mornings. |
| Clean Up Crew | Starting at 7:00am Monday mornings these volunteers, strip beds, bag used linens ready for laundry, wash (sanitize and rinse) mattresses, store mattresses, store chairs and tables, sweep floors, clean showers and washrooms. Make sure guests vacate premises by 8:00am Monday mornings. |
It should be noted that the Out of the Cold program receives no funding from any level of governments and relies solely on private donations from parishioners, churches and the community at large. St. Louis Out of the Cold program has been greatly blessed that in the twelve years of running this program we have been financially self sufficient.
For further information or to help with Out of the Cold, please contact Keith Schnarr through the Parish Office at (519) 743-4101.